Salmon are spawning now in Northwest Washington and British Columbia. Found quite a few making their way up Chuckanut Creek south of Bellingham at sunset. The light was fading and the lens wasn’t all that fast, but I managed to get a couple of decent shots.

A female lays her eggs (below) as the male fertilizes them with ‘milt.’

The one screen left is definitely the male. You can tell by the Jimmy Durante schnoz, called a Kype.

This one may be a little difficult to make out at first.  It’s a female digging a shallow nest in the gravel called a ‘redd’ where she will lay her eggs.

The journey back up their native streams and rivers is ultimately terminal. A mystical cycle of life and death that releases incredible amounts of nutrients back into the rainforest.

These guys are resting up, before they brave jumping over the icy drop

and heading further upstream.